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Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Moroccan Roast Vegetable Tagine

Tagines (aka tajines) are at the heart of Moroccan cooking. And when the weather turns chilly, these stew-like dishes satisfy.

This version is vegan, with sweet potatoes and cauliflower. It’s simmered in a tomato sauce that’s fragrant with cinnamon, cumin, and ground ginger.

Roast-veggie tagine is so succulent that meat eaters won’t complain. And you can make this dish ahead of time (in fact, it tastes better if prepared the day before you plan to serve it).

So get ready to Moroccan roll.

Recipe: Moroccan Roast Vegetable Tagine

OK, maybe we should call this Moroccan-style tagine, because the preparation isn’t strictly traditional. For a traditional tagine, you need to cook all the ingredients together for hours.

For our recipe, you prepare the tagine base (a richly spiced tomato and chickpea stew), then add vegetables that have been roasted separately. Because roasting intensifies the flavor of vegetables, this results in a much tastier dish. So, although the preparation isn’t traditional, the flavor sure is.

We use a couple of Roast Sweet Potatoes and a small or medium head of Roast Cauliflower that we’ve prepared ahead of time. But you can use almost any vegetables you fancy. And exact quantities are not critical.

The base for this dish is a spicy tomato sauce that contains onions and jalapeño peppers. Chickpeas add protein and extra flavor. We finish the dish with some quickly cooked green beans (peas would work too).

This is recipe is intended to be a main-course dish (and it’s really a complete meal). But if you want a bit more, just add some crusty bread and a salad.

Prep time for this dish is about half an hour. Roasting the veggies takes 30 to 45 minutes (depending on how hot you set the oven). Preparing the sauce and finishing the dish takes about 45 minutes.

This recipe yields about 8 main-course servings. Leftovers keep for a few days if refrigerated in an airtight container.

Ingredients

For the roast vegetables:

2 sweet potatoes

1 small or medium head of cauliflower

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

salt to taste (maybe 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, total; see Notes)

freshly ground black pepper to taste (maybe ¼ teaspoon)

cayenne pepper to taste (optional; ¼ to ½ teaspoon)

For the tomato sauce base:

1 large onion

4 cloves garlic

1 to 2 jalapeño peppers (optional)

2 tablespoons olive oil (or other oil of choice)

salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon kosher salt for us; see Notes)

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1 tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

¼ to ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

2 15-ounce cans chickpeas

water (about 3 cups; see Step 5)

~12 ounces green beans

juice of 1 lemon

parsley or cilantro for garnish (optional)

Procedure

Roast the sweet potatoes and cauliflower according to the recipes linked in the headnote. Basically, all roast veggies are prepared the same way: Wash and peel the vegetables if necessary, then cut them into appropriately sized serving pieces. Toss the veggies with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Scatter the vegetables on a baking sheet (cleanup is easier if you line the sheet first with aluminum foil). Roast the veggies in a pre-heated oven at a fairly high heat (350 to 500 degrees F). After the veggies have roasted for 20 minutes, turn them over, season with cayenne pepper if desired, and continue roasting until done (timing depends on how hot your oven is and what particular veggie you’re using; typical total roasting time is 30 to 45 minutes). Remove the roasted veggies from the oven and set them aside until ready to use. We generally roast vegetables a day ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator.

Start the tomato base for the tagine: Peel the onions and cut them into ½-inch dice. Peel the garlic and cut it into thin slices or mince it finely. Wash and dry the jalapeño peppers (if using), then cut off their stem ends. Cut a few slices of pepper and set them aside for garnish, if desired. Slice the remaining peppers in half lengthwise. With a teaspoon, scrape out the seeds and ribs. Cut the peppers into fine dice (careful, the jalapeño oil is hot, so keep fingers away from your eyes). Set aside. Now wash your hands with soap and water to remove the spicy oil.

Place a wide-based Dutch oven (one that holds at least 5 quarts) on medium stovetop heat. When hot, add the olive oil. When heated (it’ll shimmer), add the chopped onions. Season with salt to taste. Sauté for 5 minutes. Then add the chopped garlic and jalapeño and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Add the tomato paste to the onion mixture and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the paprika, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, ginger, turmeric, and cayenne to the onion mixture. Add the can of diced tomatoes. Open the cans of chickpeas, then drain them and rinse off the gunk they’re stored in. Add the chickpeas to the cooking pot. Add enough water to make a thick sauce – usually 2 to 4 cups.

Cook for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, wash the green beans and snap off the stem ends if necessary.

After the tomato sauce has cooked for 20 minutes, add the roast vegetables and the green beans to the cooking pot. Stir to combine. Cook for another 20 to 30 minutes. Squeeze a lemon, add its juice to the tagine, and stir in.

Taste, adjust seasoning if necessary, and serve. We like to garnish each serving with sliced jalapeño peppers and/or chopped parsley or cilantro.

Notes

Instead of adding the green beans in Step 7, we sometimes steam them separately, then add them to the tagine 5 minutes before serving. That way, the green beans retain their bright color.

Alternatively, you could roast the green beans and add them with the other roast veggies (they have wonderful flavor when roasted).

For this dish, you can use just about any roast vegetable that sounds good to you. Summer or winter squash would be awesome. Roasted bell peppers would be good. Or maybe roast eggplant. If you want a “meatier” flavor, try adding some portobello mushrooms.

You could also skip roasting the veggies and make this tagine the traditional way. If you want to go that route, here’s how: Wash the veggies and cut them up. Add them to the tomato sauce when you add the chickpeas (Step 5), then cook until the vegetables are tender.

We serve this dish “neat,” as Moroccan cooks do (they typically serve it with bread to scoop up the tagine – the bread serves as silverware). But you could also serve this dish over couscous, polenta, rice, or noodles.

We like the hint of acid that lemon juice delivers in this dish. You could substitute vinegar if you prefer.

Or skip the acid entirely. But remember that a touch of acid makes the dish taste “brighter” and sharpens the flavor, much as salt does.

Speaking of salt, we use kosher salt in cooking. It’s less salty by volume than regular table salt (the flakes are larger and coarser, so it packs a measure less tightly). If using regular table salt, start with about half as much as we suggest. But always season to your taste, not ours.

Programming Note: We’re taking several weeks off for vacation. So we won’t be posting (or visiting other blogs) for a while. We’ll be back on the last Wednesday of November with a new recipe. Happy Halloween and Thanksgiving, everyone!

Ship of Fools

“Love this dish,” said Mrs. Kitchen Riffs. “Loads of flavor, and fun to serve to company.”

“Yup,” I said. “Good thing this recipe makes a lot. Our readers will be able to live off the leftovers while we take some down time.”

“And what down time it is,” said Mrs K R. “We’ll be cruising from Hawaii to Tahiti. With a visit to Bora Bora.”

“Always wanted to see it,” I said. “And now we will.”

“Loads of good food onboard ship,” said Mrs K R. “Wine and cocktails too. We might discover some new Tiki drinks.”

“And maybe get some new ideas for a pupu platter while we’re in Hawaii,” I said.

84 comments:

Moroccan food fascinates me. Your recipe sounds like a very good adaptation of the traditional flavors. A shortcut could be using the spice blend ras al hanout, which offers a similar selection of spices.

I've been trying a few recipes and even bought a tagine (that is, the ceramic dish with a conical top) -- but it broke within 5 minutes of first use, so I just cook in my ordinary dishes.

Hi Mae, tagines (the pots) can't cope with high heat. They look gorgeous and I've cooked with them, but don't have one now. And won't get one -- a Dutch oven works much better in Western kitchens. Ras al hanout would work in this too, although you'd also want to add more paprika. Thanks for the comment.

Have fun in Hawaii!!! We might be like two passing ships in the night... If I see a guy in a grass skirt and coconuts at the luau, hanging around the buffet table, we will be sure to say hello. This is one fabulous full on flavor and texture dish. Just adore when cauliflower gets toasty like this. Take Care and have fun!

A dish with the promise of a lot of flavour and an interesting adaptation of the usual. I guess some of us have to be called 'traditional' or 'stick-in-the-mud' perchance . . . having cooked Moroccan, Tunisian et al for some three decades I must admit I do so love my tagines - just taking one off the shelves gives a festive feel and a promise . . . a simple diffuser takes away any worry of over-heating. Have a great trip: Bora Bora is by far my favourite on that journey . . .

Hi Eha, you're right about the diffuser -- that makes a tagine usable even on an electric stove. Although I've come to really like using cast-iron Dutch oven when it comes to cooking tagines. Now beans, they need clay! :-) Thanks for the comment.

John and Mrs KR please have a wonderful time on your holiday. I hope you do share some exciting photographs and food or cocktails idea from your time on board. Thank you for another amazingly colourful and delicious dish which I noticed you have managed to smuggle jalapeno into and have a wonderful holiday. P S I made your tomato, cannellini and escarole soup on Sunday it was beautiful 8)

Cruising in from Hawaii to Tahiti? I'm certainly envious and hope you introduce us to some exotic cocktails when you get back! I've been wanting to cut down on eating meat recently- your dish looks like it could be a winner for me!

Had another senior moment as I thought I'd commented on your fine looking tagine. The tagine looks very tasty with a hint of heat. You guys have a wonderful and safe adventure. I'll look forward to hearing of all the different cocktails you experienced.

What a hearty vegan dish. I love Moroccan cooking -- especially the use of so many wonderful rich spices. Cinnamon has become a favorite of mine for adding to stews. And Hawaii & Tahiti! Lucky you! It will be a stunningly beautiful trip, I'm sure. I went to Bora Bora and Morea as a kid, and then my husband and I honeymooned on the island of Huahini, where I had the best ahi tartare of my life. :-) Can't wait to see what's inspired your cooking when you return.

Moroccan has always been a ethnic food that I either go out to get or hope someone cooks it for me. :) I love it, but just never made it at home. After going through your recipe I can see why it worth it though. All those flavor simmer together in a tagine sounds wonderful. You've made a vegetarian dish sound and look very meaty and tasty. Great dish John!

Great recurring, John - I love that you roasted the veggies separately. Moroccan food has been a favorite of mine since I went to Morocco in 1991. It is an amazing place with incredibly culinary treasures.

Speaking of culinary treasures, have a wonderful trip. I look forward to those treasures you bring back, whether in a glass or on a plate,a Bon voyage!

This looks gorgeous! Great idea to roast the veggies first to get that color. I see tagines for sale all the time and really would like one, but where to put it? A dutch oven gets it done, doesn't it? Enjoy your vacation!

Hi Greg, we're sailing the high seas at this moment--a day from Hawaii, 3 days until we reach Nuku Hiva (the island where Melville jumped ship, and later used as the inspiration for his first novel, _Typee_. Thanks for the comment.

This looks wonderful John and so flavorful. I’ve had a tagine that I keep saying I need to cook with. Now you’ve inspired me. Have a wonderful vacation and will look forward to your new recipe when you return. Happy Holidays!!!